ALPENA — Voters choosing between eight people vying for four seats on the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education should consider staffing concerns, academic outcomes, and communication, candidates say.

Incumbents Ned Heath, Thomas Hilberg, and Anna Meinhardt will face hopefuls Sarah Fritz, Eric Hansen, Bruce Heath, AJ MacArthur, and George Pena on the November ballot, with board member Ken Gembel not seeking reelection.

Fritz, with 20 years’ teaching experience on the East Coast before moving to Alpena, feels she could offer a fresh perspective to the board.

Facing the same lack of teachers seen elsewhere, the district should boost its pay scale to meet local and downstate rates and focus on making the district attractive to potential staff, Fritz said.

Fritz said she would encourage board member visibility in schools and ongoing support of teachers through professional development opportunities.

Reacting to concerns she heard in the community, Fritz checked with the state, she said, and confirmed that critical race theory is not part of the APS curriculum. People hoping for leadership positions should put in the legwork to ascertain such information, Fritz believes.

Hansen said he doesn’t jump to conclusions, but, once he reaches a decision, sticks to his guns.

Board decisions during the coronavirus pandemic distracted teachers from teaching and led to behavioral issues, Hansen said. He believes the board must create and follow policies supportive of student mental health.

Hansen said weak communication lines between the board and parents have eroded trust that needs to be restored, and he feels he can be a part of that fix.

As a board member, Hansen would also focus on making the district appealing to prospective teachers and streamlining the process for recruiting staff, including increasing wages.

Bruce Heath — not related to Ned Heath — said he offers common sense and technology expertise that could benefit APS.

Stating that Alpena students graduate unprepared for college or the workforce, Bruce Heath said that, as a board member, he would encourage schools to return to a focus on traditional education and preparing students for college entrance exams.

Teachers should steer away from group work and social-emotional learning, including what he perceives as a current emphasis on inclusion and equality at Alpena schools, Bruce Heath said.

Bruce Heath said he would prioritize keeping gender issues and what he called pornographic materials out of school, though he said he does not know if such materials and discussions are present in local classrooms.

Incumbent Ned Heath said he believes politics do not belong on the school board.

Schools need to focus on hiring and retaining qualified teachers, providing a safe environment, and helping kids rebound from a dip in educational achievement connected to classrooms going virtual during the pandemic, Ned Heath said.

As a board member, he prioritizes making sure schools and teachers have resources to give all students opportunities to learn, regardless of who they are, he said.

The current president of the board, Ned Heath, believes he runs the board fairly and tries to make sure all sides of an issue are heard, he said.

Hilberg pointed to a successful bond proposal and recent renovations to several school buildings as indicators the APS board has accomplished good things on behalf of the community.

He expressed concern about low standardized test scores but said APS and the board have taken steps that should raise those scores, including hiring coaches to help teachers.

Discipline problems have increased in classrooms, and the board has to support teachers handling more student emotional struggles than in the past, Hilberg said.

Hilberg’s background in engineering would help steer APS toward best use of its facilities, he said. He pointed to six years’ experience on the board and steady community involvement as incentive for voters to choose his name on next month’s ballot.

Voters should examine a candidate’s character in making their selection, said MacArthur, another newcomer on the school board ballot.

MacArthur said honesty, hard work, and diligence are integral to his profession as a farmer, calling them qualities he would bring to the school board.

He believes schools focus too much on making sure students feel good about themselves and have drifted away from the country’s values, he said, not specifying which values he meant.

MacArthur does not consider any one issue as most important in the school board election, but the community can trust him to make solid decisions, the candidate said.

Meinhardt said the district needs to focus on staff recruitment and support.

She believes the district improved its communication with the community in recent years by establishing an app and other electronic messaging options and seeking the input of staff and community via surveys.

The board — like parents — needs to focus on the best interest of students, not on political ideology, in making education-related decisions, Meinhardt said.

The district has improved physical safety at schools and needs to make sure students are safe from dangers such as bullying, as well, she said.

Pena said experience in teaching and school administration downstate would help him steer the board toward steps larger school districts take to keep their students safe and academically strong.

Concerned about low local standardized test scores, he said APS needs to quickly examine what it can do now to start upping scores and then create a longer-term plan to continue improvement, including by tapping into available funding to provide extra academic help for students.

He believes APS needs an overhaul of its strategic plan, tapping outside help to set goals and create steps for how the district will reach those goals.

Recent APS security enhancements bring the district closer to a safer environment for students, but the board needs to track safety metrics to make sure those inside school buildings know how to respond in an emergency, Pena said.

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